The Queen's Peter Morgan Sells Heist Script To New Line

British writer Peter Morgan has made a name for himself penning awards-friendly, character-centric dramas such as The Last King of Scotland, The Queen, and Frost/Nixon. With the upcoming remake of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy he’s branching out into thriller territory, and now he’s tackling yet another time-honored genre: the heist flick. Variety reports that New Line has picked up Morgan’s untitled heist screenplay, to be produced by Simon Kinberg.

Morgan and Kinberg developed the script together. The story doesn’t provide many details about the project – not surprising since it doesn’t even have a title listed – but it does say that it is a character-driven story revolving around two male leads, and it is set in America. Variety also says the film is “in the vein of” Michael Mann’s Heat and Martin Scorsese’s The Departed. Without knowing more about the film, that could mean that we’ll see two lead characters on opposite sides of the law, like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro’s roles in Heat.

While Kinberg built his career as a screenwriter on flicks such as Mr. & Mrs. Smith, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Sherlock Holmes, he has lately added producing to his insanely busy schedule. He’s producing Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Neil Blomkamp’s new science fiction film Elysium, and The Caves of Steel, based on Isaac Asimov’s novel. He’s also writing the so-far untitled sequel to X-Men: First Class.

Stay tuned to Cinema Blend for more details on Morgan’s heist movie, including the title, as they become available.